The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1887-05-12
DEMONS AND DEVILS.
They Have Existed From the Earliest
Times and their Number Is Aston
ishing.
PMSJu.g Dispatch

~ UOcNel vi nuaCCfC1 GllC oSfAA
may be, he is & most important per-
sonage. History, poetry, romance,
mythology and art all furnish abund-
ant evidence of the truth of this
statement. The grandest of epics,
the greatest of paintings, the most
famous of theatrical plays, all have
him as their central figure. Not to
speak of his notable achievements as
told in the book Of books, which
have been the theme of theological
discussion from time immemorial,
his acts, or acts imputed to him, are
recorded in countless volumes.
The devil made Milton famous and
contributed, in no small degree, to
the renown of Shakespeare; Mephis.
topheles, who was either the devil or
his agent, is the hero of Goethe's
masterpiece; while the place where
the devil is supposed to abide was to
Virgil and Dante the foundation upon
which their muses. built structure
"more enduring than brass, more
splendid than gems Of the orient"
Il wish," said downtown book
seller to reporter the other day,
"tbat the devil would follow the ex-
ample set by some of our public men
and write his autobiography. Any
publisher would give a liberal sum
for the copyright and a handsome
royalty on every volume sold. We
know nothing about the devil-that
is definite. His history would be
one of the most entertaining ever
written. Who would not like to
know when Satan was born, who his
parents were, how he passed his boy
hood, what were the achievements of
his riper years, and all the other facts
that make up standard biography !?
Defoe was the only writer who ever
attempted such a work, and he could
scarcely be considered an authority
on the subject
The theme is vast one, but any
author Except his Satanic majesty
himsel) attempting the work sug'
gested would be bewildered at the
outset by the necessity of solving
number Of difficult questions like the
following: Is there one devil only
Is he omnipresent, omniscient, or is
he limited to his own domain an0
restricted in his powers? In short
who and what is tue devil, and what
is his nature and character
We have the best grounds for be-
lieving that the devil was once re-
spectacle. At least he kept good
company and was not described as
mischief maker. "Now there was s
day." states the book of Job (chaptel
/, vi. and viii, "when the sons of Goo
came to present themselves before
the Lord, and Satan came also
among them" He was asked whence
he came, and replied: "From going
to and fro in the earth, and from
walking up and down it," That is
he was a tramp. He couldn't have
followed the road long or his com
panions would certainly have beer
ashamed of him.
Job was rich man and maintained
magnificent establishment; he va:
also upright and honest. Satan trieo
to convert him to his theories, but
Job could not be moved either tC
swear or lie; and though his patience
was nightly tried by the adversary
he grew both in wisdom and strength
and lived no years after.
The Satan of the Old Testament
does not appear to have been a being
Of great power. He was first a ser
want, then a prosecutor, then a con
fdence man. Popular ideas of bis
character are drawn from Millions
terrible pictures of him, and not from
the scriptural record. There were
ether devils than Satan, however
The latter appears to have been &C
corded the position OF chief of the
tribe and ruler of the realm. of dark
ness as soon as he had demonstrated
capacity for the place. The date OF
his accession to power is now al
hand.
Moses records that idolatrous peo
ple. even in his time, "saC~ifed tc
the devils and not to God" Whether
all the devils of the earth were de
scended from one common ancestor
or not some future historian must
determine. The term devil in this
article is used as Burns used it, tc
DESIGNATE the chief or leading spirit
the evil one:
O thu. whatever title suit thee
Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootle,